Exports rose more than five percent in the first ten days of June in a turnaround from the previous month’s contraction. 

According to preliminary data from the Korea Customs Service on Wednesday, the country’s outbound shipments reached 15-point-five billion U.S. dollars during the cited period, up five-point-four percent from a year earlier.

Average daily exports rose 15 percent, with the number of working days the same as last year at five and a half days.  

The rise was led by growth in the nation’s major export items, with semiconductor shipments increasing 22 percent and auto shipments rising eight-point-four percent during the period. 

Exports to the United States and China increased three-point-nine percent and two-point-nine percent, respectively, while shipments to Japan decreased five-point-nine percent. 

Imports increased eleven-point-five percent year-on-year to 17-point-two billion dollars, resulting in a trade deficit of one-point-seven billion dollars.